


Saving the Day

by Lucy_Luna



Series: My Memories Came Back in the Form of Someone Else [12]
Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Bank Robbery, Friendship, Gen, Kid Fic, Mild Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Post-Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Sequel, Two Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-02-28 20:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18763981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucy_Luna/pseuds/Lucy_Luna
Summary: A trip to Prospect Park Zoo with Miles takes an unexpected turn when on their way, Gwen has them stop at her bank for some souvenir money.





	1. A New Day, Another Hostage Situation

Dressed in a t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes for a day outdoors with a backpack slung over her shoulder, Gwen rang the doorbell of the Davis-Morales door. Inside, she heard the thumping of running feet before the door was swung open to reveal Miles, who was dressed the same as her except he also wore a baseball cap (though, it would be useless against the sun since he wore it backwards). “Gwen!” he yelled before throwing his arms around her and squeezing her.

She gave his head a pat and remarked, “Wow, you’ve grown since I last saw you, huh?” It had only been about a month since she last saw her favorite kid, but Miles felt taller than he had before.

He pulled away and bobbed his head. “Mom and I went and got me new shoes last week ‘cause my old ones were hurting my toes!”

Gwen smiled. “That’s very cool.”

He lifted his feet, showing them off to her. “They’re Nikes!”

She whistled in a show of being impressed. “Awesome.”

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into his home. “Come on, let’s get the money from Mom so we can go to the zoo!”

She let him guide him into the house and closed the front door behind her before Miles led her into the kitchen. It took her all of a second to realize that the cupboards were decorated with new artwork from Miles. She wondered if his parents had signed him up for some art class for the summer. If they had, she had to say it was a good choice. The paintings and drawings were all very vibrant and upbeat. It brought some nice summer cheer to the room.

“Gwen, hello!” Rio said, lifting her head above the door of her open fridge to smile at her. A moment later, she stepped away, two water bottles in hand, and closed the door. “I’m just finishing packing you kids some lunch for the zoo. “I hope you like empanadas and celery sticks with peanut butter.”

“Yeah, that’s great, Mrs. Morales.”

The woman went to an open lunchbox on her counter and put the bottles in the mesh pockets on the sides. “Please, call me Rio,” she said to her before going to a monkey-shaped cookie jar resting on top of her fridge and bringing it down. Opening it up, she pulled out a couple of subway passes and some dollar bills. “Here,” she said, coming over to Gwen and putting the money and passes in her available hand. “For the subway, zoo, and ice cream.”

Gwen pocket the money and passes in her short’s front pockets. “Thanks, Rio,” she replied.

The woman nodded and went back to the lunchbox. She closed it up and handed it over to her like she had the money. “Thank you so much for taking Miles today,” she said. “He’s been looking forward to the zoo since the end of the school year and Jefferson and I hated the thought of rescheduling after Miles has waited so patiently.”

“It’s not a problem,” she reassured Miles’s mom. “I hope your friend feels better.”

The woman took Gwen’s face in both her hands and said, “Oh, Gwen, you are a good girl.”

She looked away and fought the urge to blush. She wasn't really  _that_ good. Gwen just didn't have anything better to do today. “Thanks,” she mumbled before taking a small step back. “I’ll have Miles back by six like we said.”

Rio nodded before she turned to Miles. “ _Papí_?” she prompted, opening her arms to her son. Without hesitation, Miles let go of Gwen’s hand to throw himself at his mother, accepting her wet, smacking kisses on both his cheeks and forehead with a laugh. “Be a good boy for Gwen, got it, Miles?”

“Yeah, yeah, Mom,” he agreed.

Letting her son go, she said to both of them, “See you kids later.” Before she ushered them back down the hallway and out the front door. “Oh, Gwen, Miles has my friend’s home number if you need to reach me!”

Gwen turned her head and waved at the woman. “Thanks, Rio, bye!”

-o-O-o-

Taking the steps up from the subway with Miles two-by-two, they laugh upon reaching the landing to the street at the same time. “No winners today!” Gwen said as she took his hand and started walking them down the street in the direction of a location of her bank’s branch. She’d meant to stop for money on her way to pick up Miles, but had woken up late this morning and hadn’t the time. It took a minute, but Miles seemed to realize they weren’t going in the direction of the zoo as he was frowning and kept looking over his shoulder. Finally, he tugged on the hand he was holding.

“Why are we going this way, Gwen? The zoo’s that way!” he said, looking behind himself again and pointing with his free hand.

She gave his hand a squeeze and smiled down at him. “I know,” she replied, “we’re making a quick stop at the bank first, is all. I just need to get some money in case we want souvenirs at the zoo.”

His eyes went wide with interest. “Souvenirs?”

Gwen nodded. “Sure,” she answered. “I don’t go to the zoo a lot. I bet you don’t either, right?”

His expression took on a speculative note as he turned his gaze skyward. “Mom and Dad took me twice last summer,” he said, putting up two fingers for her to see, “and this is my first time this summer!”

“See?” Gwen replied, vindicated. “That’s not a lot. I used to go four or five times a summer when I was a kid.” She smiled at Miles and leaned down to say, like she was imparting a secret, “Though, I think I only went that often because my grandpa really got a kick out of watching the sea lions.”

“Those are my favorite too!” Miles exclaimed.

She laughed. “We’ll have to make a point to see them then, huh, kiddo?”

He nodded as they turned off the sidewalk and went up the steps to the bank’s revolving glass doors. He frowned as Gwen pushed them through the doors only to reveal that the lobby was filled with a decent amount of people waiting in lines to see the three tellers on duty. “Will this take long?” he asked.

She shook her head as she led them over to the table with the withdrawal slips. “Oh, no, not at all kiddo,” she reassured as she picked up a pen and began to fill out a slip. “You’ll see.”

He bumped into her side, trying to peek at her slip. “What are you doing?” he asked.

She lifted it up and showed Miles her half-filled withdrawal slip. “I’m filling out a form that’s for requesting money. It’s the bank’s way of keeping track of money going and leaving my account here.”

Miles blinked. “Oh.”

Finishing off her slip, she asked, “You don’t go to the bank with your parents much, huh?”

He shook his head. “No,” he answered, “Mom and Dad use the TYME machine.”

Putting the cap back on the pen, Gwen reached for Miles’s hand with the one not holding her slip. “I bet they have debit cards, don’t they?”

“Uh-huh!”

She smiled at Miles as they got themselves the shortest line. “I don’t have one yet, so I can’t use one to get money,” she explained. “My Dad says I can get one when I turn eighteen.”

Standing on his toes and stretching his neck to look around the people in line in front of them to see the teller at the window, Miles asked her, “When’s that?”

Gwen began to look around. Something was wrong, her spidey-senses told her that much, but what? As she continued to scan the lobby, looking for something that seemed off, she answered, “Oh, another year.”

Miles gasped. “That’s so long!”

She trained her eyes on a couple of men wearing the hoods of their oversized sweatshirts up. The strings were drawn tight around their faces. She wondered if it was them that was eliciting the sense of danger she felt. “You think so?” Gwen replied, almost absently to Miles’s exclamation.

“Yeah!” he answered. “I’ll be _seven_ then.”

Her mouth fell open as she saw the men reach into the waistbands of their jeans. “Woah—” she started only to stop short.

“Gwen?” Miles asked, concerned.

She yanked Miles down to the floor, hissing in his ear, “Down! Down! Get down!”

From where he was now crouched down behind her, he leaned against her shoulder and whispered, “Gwen, what’s going on?”

She ignored his question in favor of watching one of the men shove past those in line and go up to the window of the teller where he started to wave the gun around for them to see. Realizing they probably had less than a minute before this turned into an entire shit-show, Gwen told the kid, “Miles, can you open the top pocket of my backpack?”

“Everyone down on the ground!” boomed the robber who wasn’t menacing the teller. Putting up his own gun up for all to see, he yelled, “Now!”

Gwen moved from her crouch into a seated position and pushed down on Miles's shoulder to make him do the same.

His warm breath fanned across her ear as he asked in a shaking murmur, “Is the bank being _robbed_?”

Gwen ground her teeth together and growled, low and forceful, “Miles, my backpack, now!”

“Sorry,” he replied before she felt the tug of one of her bag’s zippers being undone.

Relieved he was listening and keeping some of his whits abou him, she tilted her head just so and said when the robber in charge of keeping the customers in place turned his back to her, “Good boy, do you feel my cellphone in there? I want you to pull it out.”

A moment later, he mumbled, “I got it.”

“Call your dad and tell him which bank we’re at,” she hissed back.

“Put all the money in there,” the robber at the teller window demanded as he brought out a trash bag. However, he paused in his actions and turned to look down at a woman in a business suit huddled under the teller window next to him. “Hey! What the fuck are you doin’?” he roared at her. Jabbing his gun in her face he ordered, “You give me that right now you cunt!”

Trembling from head to toe, the woman offered up to the robber a cellphone.

Instead of taking it, he knocked from her hands with his foot and stomped on it as he cussed, “Fucking bitch!”

The other robber in charge of keeping Gwen, Miles, and the other bank-goers subdued stepped forward and yelled, “Everyone gimme their phones now or I’ll shoot!”

“Gwen?” Miles whimpered.

She wanted to turn around and hug the little boy, but knew that would be a very bad idea after what had just happened. So, she settled for leaning back just a little so her head bumped into his as she muttered, “Shh, he’s not gonna think you have one. You’re just little.”

His voice was still shaky as he told her, “I called Uncle Aaron by accident.”

She just barely suppressed a flinch. Gwen hadn’t seen him since that night where he had to pick up her drunk ass from that street corner and babysit her through the night. She knew she had to figure out a way to thank him, as long ago as it was now, because he’d really done her a favor keeping the whole thing to himself and not even insinuating something to Miles parents about her being irresponsible. Sucking in a long breath, she forced herself to calm down and asked, “What?”

“His name was first!” Miles whined. “I was scared and I saw it and—”

Gwen jabbed him in the stomach. He was getting loud and that was _not_ good. The bank robbers were looking especially twitchy now that they’d collected a dozen or more cellphones. It appeared they were beginning to realize they’d perhaps not thought out whatever their plan was as well as they’d thought. “Oh, for the love of—” she complained only for Miles to poke her back on the shoulder.

“He’s talking on it,” Miles whispered.

Gwen hissed over her shoulder, “Be very slow and bring it close to your mouth so you can tell him our location. We’ll hope he tells your dad where we are. I’m sure he already knows it’s being robbed…”

There was a bout of silence followed by Miles whispering the name and location of the bank. A moment later there was a quiet click and he murmured into her ear, “I told Uncle Aaron and hung up.”

Relief washed over Gwen. Hopefully, the police would be here soon then. “Good boy,” she praised. “Hide it in your pocket now, okay?” she told him as her spidey-senses tingling intensified.

“Hey, what are you kids doing?” the robber watching them all demanded when his eyes landed on a moving Miles.

Thinking fast as he approached them at a clipped pace, Gwen forced her eyes wide and cried, “Sorry! He has to pee, please don’t hurt us!”

He stopped a little over a foot away from them, a mean scowl on his face. “Stupid kids…” he complained.

The other robber, who was starting on filling another bag with money ordered, “Take them to the bathroom. I don’t want to smell his piss.”

He looked away from Gwen and Miles to his partner. “Len—” he started only to be cut off by the other.

“Now!” he boomed.

The robber’s body tensed, but he listened. Gesturing for them to get to their feet, he said, “Come on, kids.”

“Gwen?” Miles warbled from behind.

Feeling it was now safe to, she reached behind and grabbed one of the kid’s hands. “It’s okay,” she reassured Miles as she carefully pulled them into a stand. “You can go pee and everything is going to be just fine.”

Miles gave a very small nod and pressed himself flush against her as they approached the robber who guided them out of the lobby and down the short corridor to the bathrooms. When they reached them Gwen was going to follow Miles into the men’s bathroom since he was still holding her hand so tight, but the robber laid his arm across the door, stopping them. “Whoah, whoah, you stay here with me,” he said to Gwen.

“Gwen?” Miles said, eyes huge and scared.

She crouched down to his height and took his face in her hands. “I’m going to be right here, okay? Everything is going to be fine.”

Miles’s lip quivered, but he nodded and this time, when he went to push open the bathroom door, the robber let him. Standing back up, Gwen brushed imaginary dust from her shorts and decided to train her attention on the men’s room door. She didn’t want to accidentally get on the bad side of the robber by looking too much at him or just around in case he thought she was looking for an escape. Slowly, a minute passed, then another. The robber began to shift from foot to foot. Finally, he looked at her and demanded, “Why the Hell is he taking so long?”

Gwen shrugged. She was getting worried herself, though. Miles hadn’t really needed to pee as far as she knew. Even if he had decided to use the bathroom, he shouldn’t still be in there. “Maybe he had to do more than pee,” she suggested. Chancing a glare in his direction, she said, harder, “He’s _six_ , by the way. He could also just be crying in a corner of the room scared of out his mind.”

“Mother—” the robber started, only to stop. Shooting out, he grabbed Gwen’s arm and growled, “Come on, let’s get the lil’shit.” She let herself be yanked into the bathroom (like there was any other choice right now), however, once they were in, the man’s grasp on her went abruptly slack as he gave a short cry of pain and fell to the floor. Staring at his figure splayed out in front of her, Gwen tried to process what had just happened when she felt Miles’s skinny arms wrap around her middle. “Gwen!” he cried, “we’re gonna be okay! The Prowler’s here!”

She looked up from the robber’s prone form and felt her heart stutter. Standing in front of her was the Prowler, staring straight down at her and Miles. Unthinkingly, Gwen muttered, “I wish you’d just called your dad.” As she wrapped her arms around Miles and pulled them aside, allowing the villain, and Miles personal hero, to leave the bathroom. Taking off her belt, she looked to Miles and suggested, “Why don’t you sing me some Ricky Martin while I take care of this guy so he can’t hurt us if he comes to?”

Grinning like all was well with the world again, Miles began to belt out, “ _Ella es una mujer especial, como caída de otro planeta_ …” While Gwen, for her part, took the gun off the robber, turned on the safety and took out its bullets and pocketed them before she used her belt to tie up his legs.

While she wasn’t familiar with the song Miles was singing, she did join him once he hit the chorus for a second time. Mostly to help drown out the screaming and shouting from the lobby (though, it was catchy). Hopefully, that would die down once everyone there realized the Prowler was only here to take out the robbers, not join them. Or at least she could hope so, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you like the first half of this story? 
> 
> Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts (good and less so) with a comment and/or kudo :)


	2. Prowler to the Rescue

When his cell phone lit up with Gwen’s name, Aaron prepared himself. No doubt this would be good if the last time she called was any indication.  Picking it up from where it was next to his mess of research papers and laptop, Aaron hit the talk button and answered, “Hello?”

Instead of a return greeting, he was met with a bunch of yelling and what he thought could be cursing. A moment later, he heard the murmur of a child’s voice talking to someone else. Gwen, maybe? Did she babysit kids beside his nephew? Maybe it was rude to assume, but she didn’t seem like the type to be the neighborhood babysitter. Gwen had a particular… _style_ and if he didn’t know the background Miles and Gwen shared, he’d have thought Gwen had been forced into the job by her father wanting to do a solid for Jeff. A moment later, the child’s voice came clearly through the line and Aaron recognized it instantly.

It was Miles.

Shit. _Shit_.

Aaron strained his ears to hear Miles whisper his location to him over the sound of blood pounding in his ears. When his nephew finished whispering to him, the line went dead. For a brief moment, he just stared at his phone trying to figure out why Gwen and Miles were at a bank. Then he quit being stupid and got to his feet. Who cared why they were at one? It was pretty damn clear some shit was going down there and they needed his help. The yelling and cursing and Miles whispering gave Aaron a pretty good idea what was going on too. That bank was being robbed and his little nephew was in it, probably scared out of his mind.

If that kidnapping and hostage situation at the police outreach program hadn’t already fucked him up, this was going to. Especially if help didn’t come soon. Going to his bedroom, Aaron went over to the window and closed his blinds before he moved onto his dresser. Reaching behind it, he felt the back of it for the catch. When his fingers found the familiar notch, Aaron released it and stepped back. The top of his dresser popped up and out of it raised two platforms. One with his gloves and the other with his neatly folded suit. Shedding his clothes, Aaron quickly dressed in his suit and put on his gloves before leaving his room.

Exiting his apartment through the living room window, Aaron stepped onto the fire escape where he then took the steps two at a time. As he touched down on the alleyway below, he hit the button on his glove that called forth his motorcycle. Not even a minute later, it appeared, ready for him. Mounting it, Aaron took off in the direction of the bank Miles and Gwen were at.

As he maneuvered his way through New York’s streets at a breakneck speed, Aaron realized he should probably call his brother. Reaching into the hidden pocket of his suit, he pulled out his cellphone. Hitting one, he put it to his ear and waited for Jeff to answer. It only took a couple of rings before his brother said, " _Hello? Aaron?_ ”

“Hey bro,” he answered, a little relieved. Sometimes his brother wasn’t easy to reach. Which he got, Aaron wasn’t any easier to get a hold of when he was on a job either. But it didn’t change that it was frustrating when he didn’t pick up. “I’m sure you already figured, but I’m not calling to shoot the shit with you. Your kid and Gwen are in the middle of a bank robbery.”

“ _What_?”

Aaron winced behind his Prowler mask at the sharp tone of his brother’s exclamation. “Yeah,” he said, “I got a call from Miles on Gwen’s cell not too long ago.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” cussed Jeff. “ _Where?”_

He rattled off the address to his brother and then, after a moment of hesitation, said, “Don’t worry too much, aight? It’ll probably be over before you even get there."

“ _What’s that supposed to mean_?” his brother demanded, tone gruff and annoyed. Aaron rolled his eyes even though Jeff couldn’t see him. His brother knew _exactly_ what he meant, Jeff just didn’t like it. Like he didn’t like most of who Aaron was these days. Quieter, probably not to be overheard by whoever he might be working with right now, he mumbled, “ _You’re not a hero, Aaron_.”

He snorted, trying to give off an uncaring air to Jeff. Yet it stung. No, the Prowler wasn’t, but he’d performed more than his share of heroism this last year and that had to mean _something_ , right? Spider-Woman sure thought so. He’d just thought it cute initially, her (not so) subtle hinting he take up the vigilante path like. Now, he was considering it half-seriously. People were going to start thinking of him one even if he didn’t want it at the rate he was going anyway. Maybe it was best he just got himself ahead of it and accept his fate.

“ _You still there_?” his brother asked, “ _you heard me, right_?”

“Yeah, I know,” Aaron replied, more or less answering both of Jeff’s questions. After a beat, he added, “ But it might just be a matter of time.” Aaron would be the first to admit he wasn’t the altruistic sort. He loved what was his and that was about it. Yet even Aaron couldn’t deny he’d felt good when his nephew had turned star-struck eyes on him after he saved him. Nor could he lie to himself that he wouldn’t like to see that look from Miles again (and forever after that too).

“ _Aaron_!”

He jolted. “What?” he snapped as he was shaken from his musings once again.

“ _You be careful. Miles might think you’re not so bad, but everyone else hasn’t experienced what he has.”_

A smirk tugged at his lips, his chest filling with an unexpected warmth that entirely drowned out the quiet throb from his brother’s earlier words. Jeff saying what he had… It meant a lot to him. His brother wasn’t a fan of vigilantes, yet here he was, endorsing Aaron to act like one. “Yeah, bro. Thanks,” he said. “See you soon?”

There was a sigh on the other side of the line. “ _See you soon, lil’bro._ ”

Aaron ended the call and re-pocketed his cell. Hitting the gas, he took the last couple of streets to the bank at double-speed.

-O-

When Aaron snuck himself into the bank through the men’s bathroom window, he hadn’t expected that his nephew would be in it. Freezing in a crouch next to the window, he just stared at Miles, who stared back. Finally, the kid smiled and said, “I was hoping you or Spider-Woman would come!” Aaron tensed, looking toward the bathroom door, fearing Miles had given them away. It didn’t so much as shake, though. His nephew seemed to realize his previous error from his glance and shuffled forward until he was maybe three of four inches from his face. Bringing his hands up to cup around mouth, he whispered, “There are two robbers, Prowler. One’s outside the bathroom with Gwen and the other is in the lobby with everybody else.”

Relieved and thankful for the information, he nodded at his nephew. Rising to a stand, Aaron gestured for Miles to follow him over to the door, where he had him stand on one side, behind him. He didn’t know how long Miles had been in the bathroom, but he knew it’d only be a matter of time before the robber grew impatient and came in after the kid. With his nephew watching his every move, Aaron debated his options for what to do when the robber opened the door. Killing him was out of the question, he didn’t need to further traumatize Miles than he already was. He hoped knocking him out would be enough to buy Miles and Gwen some time to escape— Or at least hide elsewhere while he dealt with the robber in the main part of the bank.

Stealing himself when he heard the robber on the other side of the begin talking to Gwen, Aaron readied his fist and waited with coiled muscles. When the door opened and the robber turned his head in Aaron’s direction, he acted. Hitting the man straight in the chin, Aaron watched his head whip back and the whites of his eyes roll forward before his eyes closed altogether and he crumpled into a heap on the ground. Looking up from the robber, he saw Gwen staring at him, wide-eyed. Aaron then felt Miles brush past him as he launched himself at the teenager, yelling, “Gwen! We’re gonna be okay! The Prowler’s here!”

His chest warmed like it had when Jeff warned him to be careful helping him and the police stop the bank robbery. Jeff was right, Miles didn’t think of him like a regular villain, but as something else, something _better_ (like Spider-Woman, even).

Aaron watched Gwen wrap her arms around Miles and press him even closer to her as she pulled them out of his way. As he passed her on his way out of the bathroom, he heard half of what sounded like a complaint:

“—called your dad.”

He paused and tilted his head. What had the first half been, he wondered? “I thought you”? “I wanted you to”? Did she think Miles had his number? The more he thought about it as he stalked down the hall toward the lobby, he realized maybe that wasn’t so crazy. He’d heard stories of Spider-Woman giving out her number to some people and friend requesting others on Facebook. Why wouldn’t he, the Prowler, have given his number to a little kid he seemed to have a soft spot for?

When he reached the lobby, a blotchy-faced woman dressed in business attire began to scream when she caught sight of him looming in the doorway. Others were quick to join her once they realized why she was flipping out. It only took a few seconds of his hostages hollering and carrying on for the robber to look over his shoulder. When he did, he dropped his trash bag of cash, causing a handful of bills to fall out of the bag and flutter to the tiles beneath him.

“Fucking shit!” the man cussed as he reached for the piece he’d tucked in the waistband of his pants. As he fumbled with his gun, Aaron sprung forward and brought out his claws. When the robber turned fully toward him, gun shaking as he pointed it at Aaron he rolled his eyes behind his mask and swiped his foot-long claws at the man, cutting off his hands altogether. The hostages began to shriek as blood spurted into the air and the robber fell to the floor, keening with fear and pain as he waved his new stumps around.

Aaron just stared down at him, unsympathetic. Fucker deserved this for robbing a bank his nephew in it. Aaron looked up when he heard police sirens outside. Looking through the big glass windows and door in front of him he saw there was a small squadron of cars. A door to one opened and he saw a police officer, clearly Jeff, step out with his gun at ready. He glanced at the robber in front of him. He wasn’t going anywhere. It would probably be smart to make sure that the other robber was still out could and slip out of here before the police had the whole bank surrounded and made getting out of here a challenge.

Raising his claws, he ignored the cries of those around him re-sheathed them before he stalked back out the way he came in. Reaching the men’s bathroom door, he pushed it open to find Miles and Gwen inside, singing the same Ricky Martin songs he’d heard Rio sing a hundred times before with and to Miles. The two of them were sitting on the counter of the bathroom sink and when they saw him enter, Miles jumped right off and ran over to him.

“Prowler!” he yelled, excited. “Did you stop the other robber? Gwen and I heard police sirens outside.”

He nodded at his nephew and, after a moment of hesitation, reached down with his non-bloody hand and gave Miles’s head  pat. The boy grinned up at him, pleased. Miles then pointed over to a corner of the bathroom where he saw the other robber still out cold, but tied up pretty well. There was a belt, Gwen’s, he assumed, cinched around his legs and his hood was down, revealing his busted-ass face. Moving closer to inspect the robber, he saw the kids had taken the string from the robber's hoodie and used it to tie his hands up behind him. It was surprisingly smart and resourceful for a couple of scared out of their mind kids.

“I wasn’t sure leaving the bathroom would be a good idea,” Gwen told him, drawing his gaze to her. Her demeanor was cool without a bit of nerves to be seen. Aaron found himself impressed. She had to be a little scared. Not just of what was happening, but him too. Maybe he’d rescued her a time or two now too, but she was older, she knew a lot more of his crimes than Miles. What all he was capable of and yet… She didn’t look the least bit worried to let Miles so near to him. “I doubt the string will hold for long if he wakes up, but I figured it’d buy us the thirty seconds we’d need to get out of here even if you were having a gun fight in the lobby with the other robber.”

Aaron stuck his thumb up, which brought a bewildered smile to the teen’s face.

“Thanks,” she said. “You’re going now, right? The police will be in here soon to take him, huh?”

He dipped his head, answering yes to both her questions.

“Aw,” Miles whined. “I wanted to look at your claws.” Aaron felt alarmed at the idea alone. They were coated in blood and that was not something he wanted his nephew to see. The blood splatters on his hand and suit were regrettable enough. At least he could convince himself the splatters were hardly noticeable against the dark indigo of his suit. Miles eyes became big and pleading as he said, “Spider-Woman let me shoot her web-shooter when she visited me at my school.”

“No she didn't!” Gwen argued, frowning over at Miles from where she was still firmly planted on the sink’s counter away from him.

Aaron watched his nephew puff out his cheeks and turn a sulky glare on his babysitter. “She _woulda_ if I asked.”

Gwen crossed her arms and scoffed. “That’s what _you_ think,” she grumbled.

Aaron raised an eyebrow that neither saw. That was interesting. There was a certainty to Gwen’s words that made him curious. Did she know Spider-Woman too? He wouldn’t be surprised if she did. Lots of people seemed to. Spider-Woman had an almost supernatural ability for acquainting herself with the people of New York. You could go into any bar, corner shop, or barber’s and hear a story from _someone_ about her. It could be anything from being personally swept out of harm’s way from Hobgoblin on his hoverboard or just getting a hand with carrying groceries to their apartment and making small-chat with her about the Knicks on the way.

“Next time I see Spider-Woman I’ll ask her!” Miles declared.

Gwen laughed and not too kindly. “You do that, kiddo. She’s not going to let your sticky fingers near it.”

Aaron watched his nephew huff and kick one of his feet at nothing. “I’ll show _you,_ ” he muttered as Gwen just rolled her eyes. His attention was snapped away from Miles when Gwen called out:

“Hey, _Prowler_.”

He looked at her. “Thanks for the help,” she said. “I gotta say, this hero thing you’re doing, it looks good on you.” Gwen’s gaze flickered to Miles, lips curling into a brief smile. “Miles thinks so too.”

“Yeah! You’re as cool as Spider-Woman!” his nephew enthused.

Aaron tried not to feel too pleased by the kids’ praise. This hero thing, maybe it would be for him, but maybe it wouldn’t. The vigilante business wasn’t half as lucrative as the villain business. He was really going to have to start being more sneaky when he decided to do this kind of thing if he didn’t want his connections in the crime world to start getting nervous. It was one thing, rescuing the kids from some of Hammerhead’s henchmen at an abandoned building. It was another showing up at that police outreach program and here at the bank. This was getting way too public. Even if he did kind of like the hero worship in Miles’s eyes.

He’d meant when he told Jeff it was probably only a matter of time before he was forced to make a career change with how things were going, but it didn’t mean he was going to just go _willingly_. That would put too large of a target on his back. He was going to have to start figuring out the safest way to extract himself without ending up dead before he’d redeemed himself in the public’s eyes and secured himself as a hero in Miles’s eyes no matter what happened to him.

His attention was again drawn elsewhere when he heard the sound of people outside the men’s bathroom. Looking back to Gwen, he saw her eyes were wide as she mouthed, “Go!” at him.

Without so much as a wave at either, he launched himself at the window and squeezed his way out. Once in the alley behind the bank, he looked toward its opening and saw a police car was parked in front of it, an officer inside already reaching for his radio. Well, shit. This wasn’t going to be the clean escape he’d been hoping for.

Hitting the button on his wrist for his bike, he watched it appear from where he’d hidden it behind a dumpster and got on. Revving the engine, he prepared himself for going airborne over the cop car and the ensuing chase that was no doubt going to be next.

-o-O-o-

“Kids!” Miles’s dad yelled, relieved, when he burst through the bathroom door with a couple of other officers to see them.

Gwen hopped off the sink as Miles hurtled himself at his father, skinny arms wrapping around his neck as the man bent down to catch him. “Sorry, Officer Davis,” she said as she quickly made her way over to the man. “I just wanted to stop in her to get some cash and well…”

With Miles now sitting on his hip, the man’s eyes softened as he met her gaze. “You couldn’t have known this would happen.”

She bit her lip. “No, but—”

He put a hand on her shoulder, abruptly quieting Gwen. “It’s okay,” he reassured her. “Thank you for watching over Miles.”

Tentatively, she smiled at the man. She hadn’t _really_ expected him to be angry with her, but she still felt bad about everything and wouldn’t blame him for being unhappy with her for putting Miles in this situation by taking him some place that him and Rio hadn’t approved.

“Dad, Dad,” Miles chanted, tugging on Jeff’s collar. “Did you see Prowler? He _saved_ us!”

“Yeah, I did, actually,” the man answered sounding surprisingly neutral about that fact and Miles telling him they were saved by the villain. “But he was gone before we got inside.” He frowned slightly. “When did you last see him?”

“Just a minute ago,” Gwen answered. “He went out that window when he heard you officers on the other side, sir.”

A look of displeasure crossed the man’s face, but with a sigh and a shake of his head, he said, “I guess we should have expected that.” Looking to his fellow officers, who’d finished checking all of the stalls and were now checking out the broken bathroom Jeff asked, “We good? Can I take the kids out?”

“Yeah,” answered the older of the two officers, a tall, tan man with something of a beer belly. “Might wanna take them out back,” he commented, “dunno if they’re finished with the mess in the lobby.”

“Right,” Miles’s dad answered before gesturing for Gwen to follow and taking them out of the bathroom. As they walked down the hall, even further away from the lobby than before, Jeff looked over Miles’s head that now rested on his shoulder, and said to Gwen, “Do you want to call your dad to let him know you’re okay or do you want me to?”

She sighed. Oh boy, was _this_ going to be a fun call. Her Dad was going to go threw the roof when he heard she’d been caught up in another crime. She wondered if he’d let her go anywhere so public again after this. Maybe she should text MJ and let her know band practices were going to be at her place for a while… Putting her hand out beneath Miles’s nose, Gwen said, “I can. Miles, can you give me my phone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you enjoy getting the Aaron's pov on what was all happening for most of this chapter? 
> 
> Thanks for reading and please me know your thoughts (good and less good) with a comment and/or kudo :)


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